The stakes are high, the expectations higher and, if early trends are anything to go by, "achhe din" could be back for the Indian movie industry with 3D spectacle Kalki 2898 AD set to cross earnings of Rs 200 crore globally on its opening day Thursday, according to trade experts. The Hindi-dubbed version of the film, on itself, is beating all Bollywood releases of the year with a massive opening.
Produced by Vyjayanthi Movies, Kalki 2898 AD has released in six languages: Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada, Hindi and English. Previously titled Project K, it is arguably the most expensive feature film in Indian cinema history at a reported Rs 600 crore. The film will breach the Rs 100 crore mark on the first day of its release, said trade analyst Girish Wankhede.
"This film will be a big life saver. Apart from Shaitaan, no big (Hindi) film has been a superhit in the last six months. Kalki will be like a breath of fresh air. It will earn Rs 100-110 crore in opening day collections across India and will cross the Rs 200 crore mark globally," Wankhede added. The mega budget extravaganza is set for global box office domination with its 4s -- stars, spectacle, stunts, and sci-fi -- said industry insiders.
Touted as a marriage of Hindu epic Mahabharata and science fiction, the big-budget multilingual film, which opened in theatres worldwide on Thursday, is directed by Nag Ashwin of Mahanati fame. While it's too early, Kalki 2898 AD has all the makings of a "blockbuster hit", with its Hindi version pegged to be "the biggest opener of this year so far", said trade expert Taran Adarsh.
As he sees it, even the India versus England T20 World Cup semifinal may not dampen enthusiasm for the film. "Achhe din are back... For the Hindi version, it's going to be the biggest opener of this year so far. The highest so far was Fighter with Rs 20.50 crore and Kalki will easily cross that," Adarsh told PTI.
Fighter had an opening of Rs 20.50 crore net in January while Shaitaan opened at Rs 15 crore in March. Akshay Kumar and Tiger Shroff’s Bade Miyan Chote Miyan also had an opening of just over Rs 15 crore in April. But the Hindi version of Kalki 2898 AD will beat them all, predicted to have an opening day collection of Rs 24-26 crore. In all languages, Kalki 2898 AD is expected to net Rs 95 crore in India and Rs 180 crore gross worldwide.
The sci fi-meets-mythology extravaganza, with Prabhas, Deepika Padukone, Amitabh Bachchan and Kamal Haasan headlining the all-star cast representing the biggest from both the south and the Hindi film industry, is also racing towards a USD 4 million premiere day in the US, Canada and other territories, reported trade website Sacnilk. This is more than SS Rajamouli's RRR, which had scored USD 3.3 million gross on its North America premiere in 2022. Kalki 2898 AD is now the film with "the biggest premiere for an Indian movie in North America", Sacnilk reported.
With inputs from PTI
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